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Monday, April 16, 2012

Secret Deck: Mismagius/Terrakion

This deck reminds me of Claydol ex

Hi
everyone!

This time of the year is very difficult to write deck articles because I’ve already
covered almost every metagame deck and the new set is coming up very soon. However,
I can’t yet analyze the set and cards of the new set because we don’t have
scans of the set. I’ll be trying to get interviews in the future entries so
even those, who don’t enjoy The Deck Out goes global entries, have something
interesting to read.

Anyways, today’s t topic is the new secret deck that was revealed in the U.S.
Regionals just yesterday. I always enjoy secret decks and I think this is
a great deck because it’s not only a secret deck but also a lot of fun to play
with. Solo-Terrakion is nowhere as fun to play with as this deck. If you haven’t
yet heard or seen a list about, here is my take on it.

As you can see from the list,
first of all this deck counters the main weaknesses of this format. Mismagius
is a Psychic Type so it quite easily OHKOs Mewtwo EX. Also, there is of course Terrakion,
which counters the most played deck – Zekrom/Eelektrik. This god-typing
combined with Mismagius’ Poké-Power and Exp. Share guarantees a continuous
energy acceleration. Just like almost every secret deck, this deck is designed
against the most popular and dominating deck – not necessarily against the
other random decks of the format.

Card Explanations

Mismagius (Attacker and Supporter)

First of all, in this evolution line we have something that we rarely see
in our current metagame – A DECENT Basic Pokémon. Misdreavus(UD) is very nice
since it lets you and your opponent draw 3 cards from your decks. It’s obvious –
it’s a great starter but at the same time it puts pressure on your opponent
because if he/she doesn’t get rid off his or her trainers or otherwise
Poltergeist will do some heavy damage next turn.

Both Mismagius are equally important in this deck. The Poltergeist one
works as the main attacker of the deck. Combined with the decks for N and
Spiritomb(TR), you can easily get a Poltergeist of 90 to Mewtwo EX. Since
Mewtwo EX is Psychic weak, only 3 trainers/Supporters/Staidums in your opponent’s
hand will let you OHKO Mewtwo EX. After N or Spiritomb’s Power that-s very
usual since most of the current decks run 30+ Trainers. Mismagius also only
needs 2 energy for its attack, so it’s very energy efficient. One good thing to
remember about Mismagius is that, even though it has very low HP of 80, it has
a colorless resistance. And as you know, Tornadus is the other part of CMT so
practically Mismagius single-handedly counters the whole CMT deck.

The other Mismagius, which has the Magical Trans ability is in the deck because
the deck has no other energy acceleration. Magical Trans can be counted as
energy acceleration thanks to Exp. Share because you can move almost any energy
of the deck to any Pokémon of your deck. It really doesn’t matter, to who you
attach Exp. Share. The most important thing is that you rescue the energy that
would go to discard pile otherwise. This way you can also get surprise OHKOs with
things like Terrakion or Mewtwo EX.

Terrakion

I don’t think that Terrakion needs a lot of introduction. Is THE best
counter against Lighting type decks because it easily OHKOs everything from
Eelektrik to Zekrom EX. It’s just too easy to energy accelerate 2 energy to
Terrakion in this deck thanks to Exp. Share and Magical Trans power. In best
case scenarios, Terrakion can score 2 OHKOs in a row against Eelektrik based
decks.

Mewtwo EX

Well, Mewtwo EX is Mewtwo EX: Even though this deck doesn’t have DCEs, you
can still easily energy accelerate two energy to Mewtwo EX thanks to Exp Share
and Magical Trans. One would think that Mewtwo EX isn’t necessary in this deck
because the deck already has Mismagius but that’s not true since Mewtwo EX is
better in situations, where you NEED to OHKO your opponent. With Mismagius it’s
sometimes risky to use Poltergeist because you can’t always guarantee that your
opponent has enough trainers in his/her hand. However, with Mewtwo EX, you
always have the OHKO ready.

Spiritomb (Triumphant)

Spiritomb is in the deck only for one purpose – give your opponent a lot of
trainers into his/her hand, whenever you need to Poltergeist. It’s highly effective
because it forces your opponent to draw 6 cards into his/her hand. All your
opponent can do is hope that he/she doesn’t draw enough trainers for the OHKO. Smeargle

Smeargle is a great card as we all know and it's very versatile in this deck. Thanks to Skyarrow Bridge it has free retreat. In this deck, Smeargle works not only as a starter and consistency adder, but also as a your opponent's hand checker. With Portrait you can check how many trainers your opponent has in his/her hand and that's great because then you don't have to blindly attack with Poltergeist.

ShayminThe deck already has powers that can move energy around but Shaymin is always good. The deck has a lot of different attackers and you need the energy on your attackers just when you need them to get the KOs at the right time. Mismagius is a stage1 so it isn't as easy to get to play as Shaymin and that's why Shaymin is in this deck.

Professor Oak’s New Theory -
Professor Juniper

Even though, this is a secret
deck – some things never change. And that’s draw engines of the deck. The only
difference in this deck is that I’ve built it without Pokémon Collector but
with Ball engine. I don’t know which the right way to go is, but Balls sounds
good to me.

N

N would only be a part of the normal draw engine but thanks to Poltergeist,
N has a deeper meaning in this deck. In
the early game, N works as a disruption to your opponent and lets you have
great damage output with Polteregeist (just like Spiritomb’s Power). In the
late game it works as a disruption just like in all decks. It’s even more
versatile in this deck than in most decks.

Level Ball – Dual Ball

As said, I decided to go with Ball Engine for this deck. Level Ball
searches for every single card of this deck excluding for Terrakion but that’s
why Dual Ball is for. Mismagius’ low HP is a disadvantage but thanks to Level
Ball, you can use it as an advantage.

Nothing too surprising here.Pokémon Catcher is a must and Switch is even
more must because of Terrakion’s horrifying retreat cost. You could probably
drop one Pokémon Catcher because usually you want to hit the active Pokémon and
add another Switch. Skyarrow Bridge

This card pretty much only has one purpose in this deck - give a free retreat to Smeargle. You need a free retreat to Smeargle because you need to look in your opponent's hand a lot of times. Skyarrow Bridge is vital for this deck to work well.
Exp. Share

Just like in Solo-Terrakion, this is the card that makes the whole deck
work. I have already explained pretty deeply the purpose of Exp. Share in this
deck and how it combos with Magical Trans and with all the attackers this deck
has. The deck has no other form of energy acceleration so getting Exp. Shares
to the Pokémon, is a matter of life and death for this deck since most of this
deck’s Pokémon attack with 2 energy. Manual attachments just aren’t enough.

Super Rod

The deck only has “2” of its each attacker and even only 1 Mewtwo EX, so Super Rod is just plain good
in this deck. It can also help if Misdreavus get slaughtered in the early game
due your slow start.

Energy

The energy lines are a bit experimental. I don’t like Rainbow energy at all
because it inflicts damage. Even though you can get around the damage with
Magical Trans, I like Prism Energy better. After all, Rainbow Energy is mainly
designed for Terrakion and Prism Energy does an equally good job as Terrakion’s
energy. The fun thing about Prism energy is that you can move it from a Basic
Pokémon to Evolved Pokémon with Magical Trans but you can’t move it from Evolved
Pokémon to Basic Pokémon because it’s Colorless. 12 is a good number in this
deck and it usually guarantees you a T1 energy.

Tech Options

Since this deck is a secret
deck, the list I showed you, isn’t 100% the same as the list everyone played in
Regionals. Anyways, there are a lot of optional cards that can be put into the
deck.

Seeker

I love Seeker and since it fits this deck, I decided to put it in. Seeker
donks are always fun and your opponent rarely expect Seeker when he/she already
is confused about the deck’s strategy. With Seeker you can also reuse Spiritomb’s
power. Other scenario where Seeker can be very handy is against Durant if you
happen to open with Terrakion. In normal situation, it would lead to your death
because Terrakion just can’t cope with Durant due its huge retreat and energy
cost but with Seeker, you can get it back to your hand. Mr. Mime (CL)

Mr. Mime is a great addition
for the deck because it can look at your opponent’s hand. That way you don’t
have to blindly Poltergeist random damage even if you can't Portrait. Looking at your opponent’s hand also
gives you a nice advantage because you know what to expect. Mr. Mime lets your
opponent look at your hand as well but if you use its power before you use Juniper/PONT,
your opponent won’t benefit anything from looking at your opponent’s hand.

Mew Prime

This whole deck can be built
around Mew Prime and after that it would look more like MeesieMew with Mismagius
in it. I like this build a lot more because it’s more versatile, a lot more
effective and isn’t reliant on opening the game like Mew Prime variants usually
are.
PlusPower

Adding 1-3 PlusPowers into this
deck is a great idea because that way you can add the needed amount for
Poltergeist or Terrakion’s attack. There are no decks, where playing a few
PlusPowers isn’t prudent.

Eviolite

Eviolite is a nice addition if
you happen to use a lot of Terrakions in your match-ups. A 150 HP Terrakion is
very tough to kill and in some scenarios, one Eviolited Terrakion can easily
take 2 prizes against Zekrom/Eelektrik. Eviolite can also be nice with Mewtwo
EX with 2 energy because then your opponent’s Mewtwo EX needs 3 energy to OHKO
it. TyrogueI think Tyrogue can come in handy for taking
early prizes against Zekrom/Eelektrik or Babies. You can also attach energy to
other of your Pokémon while using Tyrogue and attaching energy in the early turns is very important for this deck
in the first few turns. Problems

Well, this deck isn’t the BDIF
obviously so it has problems with several things. Let’ see what kind of
problems this deck may face.

1) Terrakion starts

Just like any deck that doesn’t use Terrakion as their main attacker, Terrakion
starts are horrible. This deck is no exception. You could try using only 1
Terrakion or adding a 3rd Switch into the deck. Terrakion starts
usually ruin also your Durant match-up because Terrakion is too underpowered
against Durant.

2) Exp. Share drought

Just like in Solo-Terrakion, if you can’t get Exp. Shares in the early game, you’re
in huge trouble because you won’t have time attaching 2 energy manually to your
attackers. There is really nothing you can do to it. You could add 4th
Exp. Share to the deck but it’s very close to overkill because this deck doesn’t
really need 4 Exp. Shares to keep up with the game thanks to Magical Trans.

3) Opponent

Like any secret deck, this deck hopes that your opponent hasn’t a clue what to
do against it. However, if for some reason, your opponent knows what he/she is
doing, it gets tricky for you. The resource management is probably the hardest
thing in the current Pokémon TCG. And against this deck, it’s even more
difficult and important. You have to be careful not to have too many trainers
in your hand but at the same time, you can’t’ burn all your resources because
you’ll in trouble after that. Playing prudently against this deck is difficult
but possible. However, one thing is for sure – you need to practice it before
going into the tournament. Conclusion

I think this deck proves that
even though the format seems time to time very dull and monotonic, there are
still combos to be found. The card pool of the current format is very big at
the moment and whenever there are only a pair of dominating decks, counter
decks will always rise from nowhere to win them. The great thing about secret
decks is that, they keep everyone guessing all the time and they are what makes
this game really interesting. The deck did well in the tournament and even though it didn't win anything, it surely is competitive and interesting for the future as well.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this and that this deck was new to you!
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment or ask if you have any questions
about this deck!

16 comments:

Aaron, just thought I would throw it out there. Man, congratulations on doing so well with a rogue/secret deck. I think you do deserve credit for it. However, you also have to understand, that after a few people do good with a deck in a Regionals, it's going to be all over the internet. People will make things public QUICKLY. This is part of what makes it really hard for a lot of decks to stay secret for long in this current age. I'm sure Esa didn't even use your list and for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that yours was a lot better tested and therefore better built. However, he does not NEED to give you credit for something that he put together himself from what he heard. Not unless you expect everyone over every pokemon website to do it. Your comment makes you seem like you're grovelling for attention and that doesn't look good at all. You know, I am Texas player who has done so well and is always sitting in those top tables, yet I'm never asking for attention even when I play something unusual that I feel should be better known. There is something great to being humble that makes you a great pokemon player and person. It always makes my stomach churn when I get to the top cut and my opponents are arrogant and want all the attention they can get. Congrats on your performance once again. But you should really let your reputation precede you and not the other way around. Everyone who knows how to use the Gym and many other sites would have known who ran the deck (and it wasn't only you). I admired the deck choice, even when it wasn't the best and didn't win anything. Now you just look like a brat to me.

Did I ever say that I wanted all of the credit? Curran and I worked on this deck after states for weeks and, as far as I know, even though it got out, only myself and maybe two or three other people actually ended up playing it for Regionals. I'm not asking for attention, but the list Esa posted is blatantly the list I posted on HeyTrainer with two cards changed. Why would I not think he just copied it and changed a couple of cards? You can have your opinion of me. I can have mine of the way people post information. It's a free world

Ok, give Aaron a break. He worked on a deck and was hoping for some sort of shout-out or mention. And if you check out the HeyTrainer post they are in fact quite similar.Great job on making Top Cut to those who did. I know of a few "secret decks" that do quite well and cheers to those who go far with them.

Aaron: Yeah, sorry about that. I wrote this article on Sunday and wasn't sure who invented the deck so I couldn't give you the credit. I love rogues and I honestly think that you and your team did wonderful job by coming up with this deck.

In the article, I tried not to sound like I invented the deck and I hope I didn't. Anyways, there is nothing I respect more in the Pokémon TCG than players who can come up with unique and working decks in a stale metagame. So, huge props and sorry again!

How is Curry arrogant? He brought up the fact Esa did not give him credit, and on top of that, that list looked just like Curry's but very few cards off. That most likely means that Esa got his list from Curry's list and did not give him credit. So, how is Curry arrogant?

I wouldn't go as far as the other anonymous poster before. I don't think Curry is arrogant, though I will say his remark was a little rude. Credit due is one thing, but there's no need to be so hostile or rude in a children's card game community. It's just not that serious. I agree credit was due, but Curry could have been a little more polite about it, even by linking his initial post on the other site as proof.

Bad attitudes are poisonous to the community. Just look at the Magic community. Full of jerks and people who take themselves too seriously. But I digress.

I used this list, and made a few switches to it, such as Bouffalant for Terrakion and DCE for Fighting. I also took out the Rainbow and added an extra Exp. Share since I couldn't draw into those very well. I split 3rd in a tournament with it. Great list.